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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if this clock is haunted?

43 replies

Cap89 · 02/05/2023 07:52

Ok, sorry this has ended up a bit long, but I need someone who knows about clocks to explain this.

My parents’ house is weird. Lots of strange goings on over the years that can’t be explained. Over the last few nights, their kitchen clock has been going haywire. The other day mum was looking for an old key to a side door that hasn’t been opened in years. She had a bag of keys out and had gone through them all. Couldn’t find it, but decided to see if any of the keys fitted into any of the other doors in the house (old house, all have locks). She went on a hunt and then had a quick lie down on the bed and fell asleep for a minute. She came back into the kitchen to find the keys in a pile on the floor. Ok, so she probably just left them a bit more precariously balanced on the table (she doesn’t think she did) but then she looked at the clock as she had a train to catch, and realised she must have slept way longer than a few minutes because the clock (which she’d checked before going upstairs) was suddenly 2 hours ahead. She panicked and checked her phone etc, the clock was wrong. She rushed to get her train, and as she left shouted to the house to please fix the sodding clock. She came home that night with my dad and the clock was right again. That night they changed the batteries.

Last night she was hunting for her hat (things have gone missing in the house for years). She’d checked the clock as she had food in the oven and was working out what time my dad would be home. A few minutes later, checked it again and it’s 4 hours ahead (sent me a pic). She goes upstairs, calls me as a bit freaked. Later on she texts me and when she checked it again at about 10, it was set to midnight. She’s the only one in the house. What’s going on with the bloody clock? Just a cheap battery powered thing (that she replaced the batteries for after the first incident). Please someone with a rational brain explain that we don’t have a ghost playing silly beggars.

Oh and at the same time she saw the midnight clock, the hat turned up on the floor (where she had definitely checked) in exactly the same spot as she’d previously found something that had been missing for months just suddenly reappear. Right in the middle of the living room floor. What’s going on?!

OP posts:
Cap89 · 02/05/2023 08:05

Just had an update, it’s back to normal time this morning

OP posts:
PortiasBiscuit · 02/05/2023 08:06

Gawd, imagine spending eternity haunting a kitchen clock!

SoupDragon · 02/05/2023 08:07

Get a new clock.

user1471517900 · 02/05/2023 08:09
beauty and the beast please attempt to be a gentleman GIF

Is there a rose in a jar living in your house?

Needmorelego · 02/05/2023 08:15

How old is the clock? Aren't old Grandfather Clocks the type likely to be haunted but I can't imagine they have one in the kitchen.
My kettle is haunted so who knows 😂👻

Hugasauras · 02/05/2023 08:17

What's going on with the clock is that it's broken.

MudLady · 02/05/2023 08:18

It's definitely haunted.

Franklin2000 · 02/05/2023 08:22

Don’t just throw the clock away, you’ll anger it 😱

reallyworriedjobhunter · 02/05/2023 08:25

Yep. Haunted. 100 per cent.

It's the only obvious explanation.

Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 02/05/2023 08:26

It's probably an atomic clock which relies on radio signals to keep to time. They go funny when the batteries need replacing and then when you swap the batteries they can't always pick up a strong enough signal to correct itself (we have to put ours in the window for a few hours)

Cap89 · 02/05/2023 08:29

Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 02/05/2023 08:26

It's probably an atomic clock which relies on radio signals to keep to time. They go funny when the batteries need replacing and then when you swap the batteries they can't always pick up a strong enough signal to correct itself (we have to put ours in the window for a few hours)

Yes! This is exactly what I needed! I assumed it was something like this, but needed a scientific explanation and the internet was proving unhelpful…

OP posts:
Cap89 · 02/05/2023 08:29

Franklin2000 · 02/05/2023 08:22

Don’t just throw the clock away, you’ll anger it 😱

Haha, what do you suggest?! 😂

OP posts:
Cap89 · 02/05/2023 08:31

reallyworriedjobhunter · 02/05/2023 08:25

Yep. Haunted. 100 per cent.

It's the only obvious explanation.

Ha, are you my dh? I could see his eyes rolling to the back of his head when I told him about it lol

OP posts:
DejaVoodoo · 02/05/2023 08:34

Back in the olden days we used to call it "faulty" when this happened.
I'm sure a few posters will be along soon to tell you to smudge the clock with sage, though.

Franklin2000 · 02/05/2023 08:37

Cap89 · 02/05/2023 08:29

Haha, what do you suggest?! 😂

Lock it in a lead box and drop into the Mariana Trench? Seems like the only logical solution to me 😂

morelippy · 02/05/2023 08:38

This is the sort of start to a book I delete off my kindle about 10 minutes after I've downloaded it.

loislovesstewie · 02/05/2023 08:46

I've got those clocks that reset themselves. If they aren't in exactly the right place in the house they seem to stop and start until the signal is strong enough to get the exact time. And when the battery is low it really doesn't work properly. Now if someone can explain why Alexa has gone mad this morning I would be grateful?

user1471517900 · 02/05/2023 09:07

Franklin2000 · 02/05/2023 08:37

Lock it in a lead box and drop into the Mariana Trench? Seems like the only logical solution to me 😂

And just let Robin Williams dig it up many years later and get trapped inside it?! Are you mad?!

LordEmsworth · 02/05/2023 09:10

Your mum was due to catch a train, so she went and had a lie down, and fell asleep???

That's the inexplicable bit for me. If I am due to catch a train, I can't sleep the night before, let alone on the day itself. What is her secret???

MsWhitworth · 02/05/2023 09:11

I think ‘cheap battery-powered’ is a big clue here.

LemonjeIIo · 02/05/2023 09:13

Easy. Put a video recorder to record what happens, but don't tell anyone!! You may find out it's your husband!!!

Testina · 02/05/2023 09:13

Who goes for a wee nap without an alarm set when they have a train to catch? I think your mum is hamming this up 🤷🏻‍♀️

Testina · 02/05/2023 09:14

MsWhitworth · 02/05/2023 09:11

I think ‘cheap battery-powered’ is a big clue here.

I like it though. I bet we were all imagining something more Victorian 🤣

SmallFerret · 02/05/2023 09:16

I need someone who knows about clocks to explain this.

Don't be silly, this is nothing to do with clocks & everything to do with birds.
Little Birdy, first outed on a long thread here way back, is haunting your clock.
You need an expert on Little Birdy.

Don't worry, knowledgeable PP will be along soon to wind up (pun intended) your willing credulity.

SmallFerret · 02/05/2023 09:17

loislovesstewie · 02/05/2023 08:46

I've got those clocks that reset themselves. If they aren't in exactly the right place in the house they seem to stop and start until the signal is strong enough to get the exact time. And when the battery is low it really doesn't work properly. Now if someone can explain why Alexa has gone mad this morning I would be grateful?

Alexa is possessed by a poltergeist. It's the only rational explanation.